New Year's Eve with Jonas Kaufmann

His Zurich Opera Tosca and Carmen will be shown in full, in HD, and without breaks, together with the first and last act of the Met's Faust. In between we're promised an interview, a serenade and "musical surprises".

I'm not sure if/how you can get hold of this outside Germany, so any ideas are welcome.

***UPDATE***

Thanks to reader Michael for the following technical details about Tele 5 access in the UK:

Tele 5 Deutschland is
available, free to air
in standard definition only, on the 19.2 E Astra 1M satellite. This satellite
carries nearly all the German TV channels including ARTE. In the UK a 60 cm
dish pointing in the right direction is usually sufficient. Technical details
for Tele 5 Deutschland are: frequency 12480, vertical polarisation, SR 27500,
FEC 3/4. There is also Tele 5 Austria in standard definition on the same
satellite at 11244, horizontal polarisation SR 22000 FEC 5/6.

The HD channels for Tele
5 are encrypted and require a viewer card from the likes of Sky Germany.

16 Comments

Since (if memory serves) he's cancelled a couple of previous New Year's Eve assignments at Baden Baden (?) I'm sort of hoping this will be pre-recorded. Although I think their studios are in Munich so that's a plus.

I was referring to the interview, serenade, and surprises that one assumes will be live. I think he's also introducing the operas. I think the press release says something about JK's interest in growing the audience for opera.

So this won't be available to watch on a computer? And it won't be available on the internet afterwards (or do they have some kind of equivalent of iPlayer)? Might just stick with the Last Night of the Proms repeat on Radio 3.

Is this likely to be viewable via a satellite system in Austria? I'll be in Vienna for New Years and wonder if my hotel would carry the feed.
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Intermezzo replies - best way to find out is to email the hotel and ask if they carry the channel.

omigod. This could be too too much for my delicate constitution. But I have no teevee, so am safe. On the other hand....... to watch/listen to JK in a sekt-induced stupor has to be an auspicious start to 2013. I wonder if he will totally seduce the audience with some Richard Tauber numbers - surely half Germany is waiting for his Tauber CD?

Oh, to hell with it, maybe I'll just book New Year at Munich's Kempinski on Maximillian Strasse.....Bet they have nice teevees, and sekt.

Great that they are running the Carmen with the fabulous Vesselina - she is a true match for him.

1. Yes, Kaufmann sometimes added in his concerts (as encore) Tauber's and Lehar's hits. But he is the last one of the present singers who did, do or going to do some so called cross - over CD. There are many of them who did it, for example (in alphabetical order) Alagna, Calleja, Fleming, Grigolo, Hvorostovsky, Schrott, Villazon (I do not think that it is sin) but I do not remember you or anybody else to taunt them.

2. R. Tauber is not German, he is not as popular in Germany than he is in his native country – Austria (surely half Germany is not waiting for his Tauber CD).

3. If you were told that half of Germany waits for his Wagner CD, then I would agree with you.

4. If you want to see Carmen just because of Vesselina, I would not recommend it to you. She has a beautiful mezzo but she was not good Carmen in Vienna nor Zurich.

Mrs. Kasarova ist a great Carmen! Look at Youtube, You will find the Zürich Carmen there. Another Thing: we will have a Wagner-CD with JK next year I heard..... but he often said that he would like to do a Operetten-CD. I hope it will work one day.
Silvester should be recorded before the transmission.

I beg your pardon, villagediva. It was a misunderstanding. I thought that you want discredit Kaufmann because of Tauber's hit. After the last Waldbuhne (with Netrebko and Schrott) some German critics ridiculed him because of this. I thought you're one of them. :) :) :)
I am eager to see or hear him in the opereta as many of his famous predecessors (Schock, Kollo, Gedda, Wunderlich) and nowadays Beczala. Waiting for his Mister X from Zirkusprincessin.
I'm sorry, but despite the fact that I like Vesselina Kasarova and her wonderful voice, I do not like her Carmen. Probably a bug in me, because I do not like Carmen A.C. Antonacci as well.

Not having the technical nous to join in the Kaufmann New Year on Tele5, I shall create my own - the ROH Carmen and Tosca with a side portion of the Zurich Fidelio I think. Unless Sky or the BBC come up with an arresting alternative....but I won't hold my breath.